Design Principals and Elements

• building blocks of design
• design elements - basic units of a visual image
• design principals - govern relationships of elements and organization of the composition as a whole
• any art can be broken down into elements and principals

Design Elements

1. Space - exists in 2D and 3D, positive or negative - "white space"
1. fore-, mid-, background
2. Line - write, illustrate, give illusion of height/shape
3. Color - emotion, place, time
4. Shape - identify, create links in mind
5. Texture - implied texture
1. used for emphasis, depth, to pull people in
6. Value - illusion of depth, shading - difference b/t light and dark areas

Design Principals - guidelines, not rules (flexible)

1. Unity - creates sens of order, consistency, shape
1. often used w/ proximity - unity/ disruption of unity
2. Variety - similar yet different
3. Repetition
4. Harmony - things look like they're in their place, like they are meant to be there
5. Proximity - line things up, make it easy for the eye to follow
6. Proportion/ Scale

Functionality

• look good v. serving a purpose
• don't be artistic if it gets in the way of communication